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“No. I didn’t have time to date, really date anyone. I was undercover for nearly twenty months before I came home, eighteen of them I was ‘dating’ someone to get me closer to the group we were after. He thought I was sixteen when we met while he was closer to Madison’s age,” she added pulling disgusted looks from the twins as well as Madison, Olivia and Caroline. “Yeah, he was a creep but not as bad as others we were after. Although he was getting there near the end and part of how I ended up getting found out as FBI so believe me when I say the absolute last thing I intended coming home was to get back together with Tyler. I just couldn’t fight what’s between us. What’s always been between us. He said love won out and I’ve got to say I agree with him when it comes to us. I just hope love wins out when it comes to our dads because we don’t like being estranged from the family.”
“We’ll work on them, it might take a bit, but we’ll get there…one day,” her mom assured her.
“Hopefully it happens before your kids can understand they’re acting like idiots,” Hailey said pulling everyone’s attention their way. A spark of hope in both mother’s eyes that was astonishing to Justine.
“We’re not pregnant,” she said quickly to stop the questions. “We do want kids though, sooner rather than later but I’ve hadan IUD for years as a precaution with my job, so it’ll depend on how my body reacts once it’s removed,” she added, not about to tell them it already was. They definitely didn’t need to know that much about them.
“Well, your dad does love babies so having one just might give him the kick in the rear he needs to start being civil,” her mom said making her laugh softly certain that wouldn’t happen.
“Grant and I have wanted grandbabies for a while as well. He might grumble about them being part Crawford, but I won’t, not now that I’ve actually had a chance to see who you are. I know why Tyler loves you now and no matter what my husband says, I will gladly be there for you and Tyler whenever you start your family,” Barb added and that was the absolute best outcome she could have imagined from today’s lunch.
Chapter 15
Achill slid through her as she pulled open the freezer door to pick up a tub of whipped topping for their dessert. They were on the last of the strawberries they’d gotten from the farmer’s market a couple towns over the week before and Justine had a craving for strawberry shortcake. Although she didn’t dare claim it was a craving if her mom or sister called.
They were all eager to hear them say they were pregnant, but her body was still adjusting to the removal of her IUD. She and Tyler weren’t too concerned about it right now. They were simply enjoying time together, especially since their fathers and some of the extended family were still full steam ahead on the ‘they shouldn’t be together’ train.
September had come on so fast she was still surprised that she’d officially been home for six months. It seemed like just yesterday that she ran into Tyler, and yet, it also somehow felt like they’d never been apart.
As of next week, her medical leave would be up, but she still had several weeks of vacation time that she’d get paid out for so there was really no concern when it came to money. She barely had any bills since she’d left the hotel. Her new car was about it, but she’d gotten a better deal to ‘finance’ it than if she’d paid cash…go figure that one. The SUV was amazing, and shecouldn’t wait for the fall to hit full-force and take it on more road trips with Tyler as his schedule eased. Summer months for him were the busiest. Everyone’s lawns needed a regular routine which his company provided, but his landscaping requests were insane, taking him away from her much more than when she’d first gotten to town, and they’d spent hours at a time together.
Although now that they didn’t have to sneak around, it made their nighttime hours even sweeter. No worries that someone would call wanting one of them to hang out that they had to come up with some excuse to get out of or worrying about them just stopping by to discover their secret. No, it was so much better being upfront about things—even if their families were still trying to make their lives hell for having the audacity to fall for a Crawford or Anderson.
“Justine, Tyler,” a voice said drawing their attention to the man headed their way and she gave the sheriff an easy smile.
“Sheriff, it’s good to see you when it’s not job related,” Tyler said making Justine grin because they’d had to call him or his deputies more than once in the last few months when some of the more outspoken extended family members wouldn’t leave them alone, leading to several being trespassed from Tyler’s home and company properties.
“Absolutely, we haven’t seen you all around church since your announcement,” he added, and Justine’s smile tightened a hint making his brow lift a bit their way. “I’m sure Pastor Adams doesn’t hold any animosity for the need to cancel the sermon that day if that’s why.”
“It’s not,” she said as Tyler chuckled a bit.
“He stopped by once we were home to congratulate us again and assure us that we were still welcome no matter what others might think or say,” Tyler expanded.
“It’s just…if we go there’s going to be more problems,” she admitted making the man’s brows furl with concern. “You knowour families. The Andersons have their side of the church, the Crawfords have the other. It’s so bad that they do two separate rooms for the breakfasts even. If we go, even though we might not be ‘picking a side’ it’s not going to look that way to anyone. If we sit on the side with the Andersons, my family will be furious. If we sit on the side with my family, the Andersons will be furious. Even if we tried to alternate, sit on one side this week, the other the next, it’s still not going to help because whichever side we sit on first, the other will think we’re supporting.”
“And then the next week, if we switched side, the other part of the family will think we’re switching loyalty and not that we’re doing it simply to avoid choosing a side,” Tyler continued, pulling a slow nod from the man.
“I didn’t even think of that. We all have our normal spots where we sit and it’s never been an issue,” he stated.
“Maybe not in public but believe me, when someone sits on the Crawford side of the church, we hear about it at our next family gathering. God forbid someone that works for an Anderson business sit on the Crawford side even though the Anderson side is full,” Tyler mused, and Justine nodded because her family was just as judgmental and suspicious of others’ choices.
“Well, you learn something new every day no matter your age I guess,” the sheriff said before turning his attention back to Justine. “I’m hoping we’ll learn more if you decide to take us up on the job offer. We heard back and the joint commission for the city and the county approved the creation of it. Since we have a bit more space at the new office, the plan would be for you to have your own office there, but there’d be space for you to work out of the town’s police department if you’re needed there for something. Since a lot of what you’ll be doing would be online, there’s also the option to work from home as well with it.Obviously if we’re working a case, we’d need you either on site or at the office, but routine things shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I actually have to head up to Seattle next week to sign some paperwork that says I’m officially cleared from medical leave and work out the details of my resignation. I’d have to make sure there’s no issues with me starting if I’m still technically employed by the FBI, but after that, I should know more about when I might be able to start,” Justine said and Tyler pressed a kiss to her temple, supporting her entirely with the decision making her love him even more.
“Then give me a call or stop by and I can show you around the office sometime next week. It’s a county special investigator position. It doesn’t require you to carry a weapon but if you’d feel better doing so, we should be able to use your agency accreditation to allow it without worrying about doing the state’s program. I made some calls, and you should be able to qualify without any additional hours with all of your coursework you did while with the FBI. We’ll have to submit it to the higher ups, but I don’t anticipate any issues getting the approval.”
“I’ll let you when I get back,” Justine said, and the man nodded in agreement before heading on to finish his shopping, letting them get home where Tyler took over cooking duties, letting her make up a syrup for the strawberries. It felt so good to do something as simple as just cooking dinner with him.
“Do you want to continue to carry a gun?” Tyler asked as she took the pan off the stove to let it cool.
“Would you have any issues with it?” she countered, giving him a soft smile as he pulled her up against him with a long, slow kiss that left her heart fluttering.
“If I did, then I’d have to get rid of my hunting rifle, wouldn’t I?” he teased when they pulled back, breathing heavily as the timer on the oven dinged letting them know the potatoes should be done. “I hate the thought of you needing it, of having to useit, but honestly, I’d feel a lot better if you had one if you have to be anywhere near a dangerous situation. I know you can protect yourself physically against someone but if they have a gun and you don’t…I need you to always come home to me.”
“I always will, and I’d feel better if I had one while out as well. I always lock it up when I’m at home so there won’t be any issues with that when we have kids,” she added, giving him a pointed look that had him nodding in understanding.
“I’ll order a gun safe for my riffle and get a new locking case for when I take it with me on jobs in some of the more remote areas.”
